Long-term, monolithic government technology contracts are hampering cybersecurity efforts, according to a Cabinet Office technology defence body in the United Kingdom.

Technology contracts build in security from the beginning, but some are not well thought through and can, as a result, become dated and restrictive, Steve Marsh, deputy director of the Office of Cyber Security (OCS) said last week.

"The threat landscape changes rapidly," Marsh told the Commons Science and Technology Committee. "To react to that as change happens--it's not as good as we'd like it to be, because we're tied into contracts that people haven't thought about. On the other hand, we're very good at building security into systems."